WILLIAMSTOWN MATRON

Clark Art Museum,
Williamstown, Massachusetts,
Matron,
Volunteer, maybe a board member,
Smooth, understated money,
Her hands unsullied by work,
Attention for her daughter and collie dog,
But others unworthy of glance

Her forebears,
Empire builders,
Their wealth built on the backs of others.
Their greed tramped through the pages of history.
The "Great Depression" of the 1930s,
The Grapes of Wrath,
Now banned in libraries,
Because its truth is too "socially offensive."
The "Great Recession," (supposedly 2008-2010, but continues still),
Corporate magnates, bankers and Wall Street hustlers,
Gambled with others' money, lied to and stole from those who trusted,
Received government bail-out money,
But continued to foreclose on homes and small businesses,
Like 1930s tractors rolling over farms and homes,
Yet another generation of Joads,
Except the wealthy,
Who own the media and
Feed us pabulum and their spin of the "truth"

Williamstown matron,
Hear the words of Kate Barnard (c. 1875-1930),
"How can a woman wear diamonds in a country where little children starve?"